It’s the new year, and it’s time for resolutions. Maybe one of yours is to do more marketing for your business. Hey, that’s a good one. But of course it’s very easy to simply say, “I will do more marketing for my business this year,” and it’s a bit trickier to outline what that marketing will actually look like.

Of course there are a myriad of ways to market your business…traditional ads, social media, mailers, and cold calling, to name a few.

E-mail can be a very effective way to market yourself, IF you know how to do it right. Here are three tips to help create better and more effective marketing outreach emails.

MAKE IT PERSONAL.

I don’t mean you want to bore people with lots of personal details about you. What I mean by making it personal is to make your emails personal and relevant to the person RECEIVING them. Take a look at their website, their blog posts, their Twitter feed. Is there something there that stands out, that speaks to you? Did they comment on someone else’s post or article in an interesting way? Find something specific that you can connect with them about. For example, “Hey, I really liked that video you made about natural dog food. That’s something I’m passionate about too.” Or, “Thanks for your recent blog post about the trends in emoji use. I thought it was really interesting!”

Finding something personal like this that you can connect with someone about shows that you actually took some time to find out about them and their business, and they’ll be much more likely to engage with you. Plus, you’ve created an instant opportunity for dialogue.

KEEP IT SHORT AND SWEET

Always remember the acronym “KISS.” (It’s more than just a hair band, people.) It means “Keep It Simple Stupid.” No one wants to read a small missive when they open up their email. Quite frankly, you’re not that interesting, and they don’t have the time. So think succinct.

DON’T ADD ATTACHMENTS

Many companies have firewalls that will automatically bounce any email that contains an attachment. You don’t want to end up in somebody’s Spam folder. If you want to point them to your demos, do so in the form of a link to your website. That gives them the option to click and listen, or not.

Following these three simple tips will help you craft email messages that will be far more likely to get responses. And remember, you’re out to make connections and relationships. When you’ve got relationships, business will follow.

Do you have any tips and advice on email marketing that has worked for you? I’d love to hear about them!